Mumbai’s bustling stock market kicked off Friday with a sharp downturn, painting the trading floor red as investors grappled with mounting pressures. The benchmark Sensex plunged 772.19 points from its previous close of 83,674.92, opening at 82,902.73. Meanwhile, the Nifty mirrored the gloom, shedding 236.05 points to start at 25,571.15.
By around 9:40 AM, the Sensex had deepened its losses, down 847.21 points or 1.01% at 82,827.71, while the Nifty slipped further by 268.35 points or 1.04% to 25,538.85. The bleed extended to broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap index dropping 1.31% and the Smallcap index tumbling 1.58%.
Sector-wise carnage was led by IT heavyweights, where the Nifty IT index cratered 5%. Infosys bore the brunt, plummeting over 5.5%, dragging down TCS, HCL Tech, LTI Mindtree, Coforge, and Wipro. Metals followed with a 2% dip, media lost 1%, FMCG shed 0.8%, and banking edged down 0.35%.
Out of the Sensex’s 30 stocks, 26 were in the red, including Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Trent, M&M, Eternal, Tata Steel, NTPC, Titan, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, IndiGo, and Power Grid. Only a handful like Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, SBI, and Bharti Airtel managed modest gains amid the rout.
Hitesh Tayal, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, noted that the Nifty opened lower yesterday and faced sustained selling pressure throughout the day. It hovered weakly in a narrow range before sliding to an intraday low of 25,752, recovering slightly to close at 25,807.20. Technically, 25,900-25,950 acts as immediate resistance, with strong support at 25,650-25,700. RSI at 53.87 signals neutral momentum with mild bearishness, hinting at limited upside in the near term.
On the institutional front, FIIs continued buying for the fifth straight session on February 12, netting Rs 108 crore, while DIIs invested over Rs 276 crore. Experts advise traders to stay disciplined amid global uncertainties and volatility, focusing on fundamentally strong stocks during dips. New long positions should wait for Nifty to firmly hold above 26,000, signaling a meaningful rebound.